Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Colonel Blood and the Crown Jewels of England

"I spoke
to no one," said the Duke hastily--"nay, I mistake, I remember

a fellow
whispered in my ear, that one, who I thought had left London

was still
lingering in town. A person whom I had business with."

"Was yon
the messenger?" said Ormond, singling out from the crowd who

stood in the
court-yard a tall dark-looking man, muffled in a large

cloak, wearing
a broad shadowy black beaver hat, with a long sword of

the Spanish
fashion--the very Colonel, in short, whom Buckingham had

despatched in
quest of Christian, with the intention of detaining him in

the country.

When
Buckingham's eyes had followed the direction of Ormond's finger, he

could not help
blushing so deeply as to attract the King's attention.

"What new
frolic is this, George?" he said. "Gentlemen, bring that

fellow forward.
On my life, a truculent-looking caitiff--Hark ye,

friend, who are
you? If an honest man, Nature has forgot to label it

upon your
countenance.--Does none here know him?

'With every symptom of a knave complete,

If he be honest, he's a devilish
cheat.'"

"He is
well known to many, sire," replied Ormond; "and that he walks in

this area with
his neck safe, and his limbs unshackled, is an instance,

amongst many,
that we live under the sway of the most merciful Prince of

Europe."

"Oddsfish!
who is the man, my Lord Duke?" said the King. "Your Grace

talks
mysteries--Buckingham blushes--and the rogue himself is dumb."

"That
honest gentleman, please your Majesty," replied the Duke of

Ormond,
"whose modesty makes him mute, though it cannot make him blush,

is the
notorious Colonel Blood, as he calls himself, whose attempt to

possess himself
of your Majesty's royal crown took place at no very

distant date,
in this very Tower of London."

"That
exploit is not easily forgotten," said the King; "but that the

fellow lives,
shows your Grace's clemency as well as mine."

The story of Colonel
Thomas Blood is difficult to fathom.He
tried to murder the Duke of Ormonde more than once, managed to dupe Talbot
Edwards, the aged keeper of the crown jewels into trusting him, was caught
red-handed with the jewels, and despite these crimes, persuaded King Charles II
not only to pardon him, but to give him a grant of land.His
infamies even gained him a place in Walter Scott’s “Peveril of the Peak (text above).Blood’s famous
attempt at the jewels in the Tower of London occurred on May 9th,
1671.